Pixel

What it sounds like

Two square-wave notes, one after the other, from a handheld that eats AA batteries. The press plays a low note and then one a fifth up; the release adds a note an octave above the first. Click a few times and you have written a chiptune.

Good for

• Retro game streams and pixel-art work
• Demos that want an 8-bit mood
• People who grew up with a handheld in their pocket

How it is made

Two square waves at 880 and 1320 Hz, the second starting 35 ms after the first, both low-passed at 7 kHz to take the edge off. The double-click steps a single square wave up four times, four semitones each.

Every qliqr sound is synthesised from a small text recipe, so the version you hear here is the same one the Mac app plays, with natural variation so no two presses are identical.